Mischief Managed
by junecho99
Summary: Story of James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter's Marauding days at Hogwarts starting from their third-year. They experience various adventures, compete against Severus, and try to win over Lily Evans.
1. Chapter 1

**Mischief Managed**

 _Pre-Hogwarts era. Story of how James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter have adventures at Hogwarts._

 **CHAPTER 1**

"Potter! Black! Pay attention, please!"

James and Sirius' heads whipped up. It was a slowly going Tuesday, their books were packed in their bags, and the raccoons they were supposed to be Transfiguring were safely barred inside the cages. With five minutes left until the bell rang, James and Sirius were quietly but furiously sword-fighting each other with their wands at the back of the classroom, making sparks come out from the tip of their wands. Peter was watching them with the corners of his eyes, applauding silently whenever one managed to successfully poke the other. Remus was listening attentively to Professor McGonagall's words.

"If you please," fumed Professor McGonagall, "after dinner today, there will be a Dueling Club to be held at the Great Hall, open to all participants. Students interested in learning how to fight with magic in a _proper_ way may come to learn a few pointers from Professor Prewett."

"Dueling club, eh? Should be interesting," murmured James under his breath.

"I bet I can take you down easily," muttered Sirius, eyeing Professor McGonagall warily. "But after dinner? That might make us late for the event."

"It's the full moon already? Blimey, I forgot…You know what, I really want to learn how to duel, though. Snivellus is probably going to come and I might get a chance to hex him officially," said James with an evil glint in his eye.

"Yeah, but what about Remus? Peter can't accompany him by himself, you know that. Before you know it, there's going to be a full werewolf prowling the grounds at midnight," replied Sirius.

James sniggered, and Remus whispered, "If you want to go to the club, I'm fine with that. I can manage on my own, I just need the Wolfsbane Potion."

James yawned. The bell had rang. "You and Peter go on a bit. Sirius and I will catch up later on, after we deal with Snivellus," He ruffled his already messy hair, shoved his quill into his bag, and got up, stretching. "Or we could always just drag Snivellus along with us to the Shack and duel over there."

"To think of the possibilities…." muttered Sirius dreamily, also getting up.

Peter snickered. "Maybe you should lead him to the Shack, Sirius. I know he's always curious about what we do during the night. He knows about our Cloak anyways."

"You know that's insane," said Remus flatly. "If you're going to come, finish the Dueling Club as fast as you can. We'll be waiting at the Main Entrance with James's Cloak."

"Alright, alright. Hold your broomsticks," said James. He added hastily, "Do you reckon Evans is coming as well?"

"Evans? Definitely," laughed Sirius. "She could Stun you in a heartbeat, Prongs."

James frowned but didn't say anything. The four of them sauntered along the hallway, shoving aside first-years. James drawled, "I'm excited for today. Stunning Snivellus isn't enough, though. Maybe I'll try a harder spell."

"Speaking of which," interrupted Remus. "Are you guys still doing your research in being an Animagus? I'm worried that I might hurt you in my…form. What if today's the day that goes all wrong?"

"Shut up, Remus. You're always the worrier. What's the harm in a risk?" said Sirius. "I can't wait to be a big, black dog, though. People are going to think they've seen the Grim, ha!"

James grinned. "You dork. You know what I'm going to be? I'm going to be a stag. How majestic is that?"

Peter frowned. "I thought you wanted to be a lion, just like Gryffindor."

James didn't say anything. He glanced at an approaching figure and just at the last second, pushed him to the side.

"Watch it, Potter," warned Avery darkly, keeping his balance. He glared at the four of them and continued on. "See you at the Dueling Club, boys. My gang will deal with you soon."

"In your dreams," yelled Sirius over his shoulder. James pulled him along. "Avery! I'm going to get him tonight."

"You still didn't answer our question, James," mentioned Remus. "I am a bit curious. Why the sudden change?"

James didn't answer, staring at something to the side. Sirius followed his gaze and saw Lily. Understanding dawned on him and he said quietly, "It's Evans, isn't it?"

James jerked from his reverie. "What? What are you talking about?"

"I heard MacDonald asking Evans how she managed to conjure a Patronus. Apparently it was a doe. How in the world did you manage to see Evans producing a Patronus?" asked Sirius in a wonder.

"Wait, so you're saying James changed his mind because of Lily? Because Lily's Patronus form is a doe?" said Lupin incredulously. "You like Lily? After all this time?"

James clenched his teeth and said angrily, "It's not like that. Lay off, all of you."

The four of them went out the Entrance, heading to the greenhouses. They noticed Severus running to catch up with Lily. Lily greeted him jovially and soon seemed to be immersed in their conversation. James pretended not to notice, and Sirius grinned nastily, breathing in the cool air. "I have a feeling tonight's full moon is going to be loads of fun."


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

That evening's dinner turned out to be loud and boisterous. Boys from each Houses could be found boasting about their dueling skills and how they would teach other students a lesson.

"You'd think they could take down Grindelwald," chortled Sirius while digging in to his pork chops.

By eight o'clock, the four long tables in the Great Hall were cleared away, leaving a very spacious area in which students crowded around. Professor Prewett, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, strode to the center of the dueling space and began in a clear, strong voice, "Welcome, to the Dueling Club. Now, I know that there are few occasions where dueling will actually take place in real life, but as I say, it never hurts to know a few pointers of the precise art of dueling. In which case, difficult times like today require you students to understand and learn exactly on how to defend yourself from magic."

A few murmurs were exchanged across the Great Hall, some students eyeing Professor Prewett apprehensively. Professor Prewett surveyed the room calmly, and continued, "Now, the mechanics of dueling are fairly simple. The most important thing, however, is actually the most overlooked thing, and the most underestimated technique that majority of the duelers do not care to uphold. This is called _fair play._ Without having respect for the rules of fair play, participating duelers are unconsciously agreeing to forfeit the right of protection. This means that any action of retribution and provocation is acceptable and the opponent that ignored fair play has to face the consequences, the most severe result obviously being death.

"Most of you probably came to the Club to practice a few spells, gain some laughs out of hexing your fellow students, and generally thinking that dueling is more or less, similar to the idea of sending sparks at each other with no distinct rules and clear boundaries, and with no consequences. I say this with utmost importance. This is a terrible error. Dueling should not be begun by those faint of heart. It is crucial to hold responsibility for your own actions, and for entering such competition.

"Going back to the idea of fair play, it is generally required for participants to agree on the specifics of a duel beforehand. What sort of curses should be banned, how long it should last, how a victory should be judged, what the penalties are, and so on. After which, a magical contract binds them to obey the rules. Most duels are mainly held out just to determine who is better in magic and so, a fight to the death is very, _very_ rare. In fact, there is only a total of seventeen duels that were pre-arranged so that both sides fought to the death. Instead, it was popular to give up one's wand to the other, especially during medieval times. However, today, dueling is rarely even initiated at all. It is important that all of you maintain fair play in order to retain your protection against uncalled magical actions of retribution. To do this, a duel must first begin with both sides bowing at each other. After this, they hold out their wands in front of their faces and turn around. Now, the most important thing in upholding fair play is that _you must never attack when an opponent's back is turned._ This is the worst action a dueler can ever do, and it is an unjust way that almost always calls for, and even justifies retribution. With both sides' backs turned against each other, they walk away from each other at exactly four steps. Four steps, four seconds later, they simultaneously turn around and immediately engage in a duel. _Expelliarmus_ , _Stupefy,_ they are all effective offensive spells that were popularly used. Victims can either dodge physically, or use a defensive charm such as _'Protego'_ to block offensive spells. Use of Potions, and dangerous plants and animals are usually forbidden in most fights, since a wizard's duel is a contest of pure magic skills and qualities.

"Now, although I intended this to be brief, I apologize for making this into more of a classroom lecture. Let us finally begin now. No intention maiming allowed of course, and those who require healing should give a shout immediately. I'll pair the lot of you into groups of two and you can practice using offensive and defensive spells alternatively."

As Professor Prewett began walking around, randomly assigning students into groups of two, Sirius and James exchanged glances. James blurted, "I'll get Snape," the same time Sirius growled, "Avery is mine." The two clasped hands and briskly strode to the general direction of the Slytherins, along with the rest of the Gryffindors.

Avery, Severus, and the rest of the Slythering gang were sauntering to meet up with the Gryffindors as well. Malice flashed upon their faces as they jeered at the upcoming figures of the Gryffindors. Sirius threatened, "Want to grow antlers out of your head, or do you prefer tentacles sprouting from your chin instead?"

Avery laughed and stood across from him. A few paces next to them, James marched in front of Severus and did not say a word. Instead, the two of them glared at each other, both tense and apprehensive.

Professor Prewett made sparks fly out of his wand, grabbing the students' attention. He yelled jovially, "You may begin! Always maintain fair play, remember. Begin with bowing at each other, please."

James and Severus barely jerked their heads. They simultaneously whipped out their wands and placed it in front of their faces. The two turned around and walked four steps. James whirled around first and screamed, " _Densaugeo!_ "

Severus turned around a quarter of a second late and narrowly avoided the hex. He stumbled, yelling, " _Rictumsempera_!"

James slashed the curse away with his wand. He jeered, "Really, Snivellus? That the best you can do, a Tickling Charm?"

Next to him, Sirius seemed to be having the time of his life. He yelled, " _Incarcerous!_ " Avery, at the opposite end, produced a silver, transparent shield from his wand that wrapped around his entire body, absorbing the ropes. He flicked his wand and the same ropes started to bind Sirius' legs. He cried out, " _Relashio!_ " and began jabbing his wand at Avery, creating flashes of white light. Avery flinched, and took a step back. Sirius kept advancing, nearly running at Avery, continuing to jab his wand left and right. Avery howled in pain when one of the white lights appeared to strike him. His robes ripped apart, sprouting a thin line of blood on his right forearm.

Meanwhile, James yelled, " _Stupefy!_ " Severus tumbled around, barely missing the curse and managed to say, " _Impedimenta_!"

James froze momentarily in sport as the spell hit him squarely in the chest. Severus took this time to rise unsteadily to his feet and cry out, " _Petrificus Totalus!_ "

James was ready for him this time. Shouting, " _Protego_!" James blocked himself and immediately yelled out a counter-curse. A sudden blast knocked him off his feet and his aim went awry. A small crater had cracked open the floor of the Great Hall, smoke still billowing. Next to it, Sirius lay with a bad cut on his lips, panting. James screamed and shouted obscenities at Avery, who was frozen. Professor Prewett was on the way other side of the Great Hall, teaching defensive strategies to a small group of admirers.

James cried, "You could've blasted away his damned leg, you stupid brute!"

He ignored Severus' curse that flew past his hair. James muttered, " _Levicorpus_ ," at Avery, who immediately went upside down the ceiling.

The duel turned into a two-on-two, as James helped Sirius back up on his feet and Severus lowered Avery down again with a counter-spell. The four of them glared at each other, with mutinous faces.

Just then, a terrified scream rent the air. Lily Evans was screeching out her lungs out, pointing at something hovering a few feet above.

James ran towards her in a flash and grabbed her aside roughly. He glanced at the motionless figure and blanched.

It was Mary Macdonald, her hair obscuring most of her face, which seemed peaceful. Something was odd though, and her tranquility added to the horror of the scene. Macnair was directly below, pointing his wand at her.

" _What're you doing?_ " James shouted angrily.

"Teaching this Mudblood a lesson," Macnair replied grimly, without looking away at Mary.

Suddenly, her eyes flew open. Her tranquil expression transformed into a face of sheer, pure terror. She screamed.


End file.
